Boat structure



Jan. l0, V1950 R. w. HARDMAN' ET AL 2,493,816

l BOAT STRUCTURE Filed June 3, 1946 ..12 O Il. u I

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Rey/,Dh W. Haro/man BY @50x/Weyer l ATTORA/Y Patented Jan. 10,- 1950 ilUNITEDfS-TAT BOAT STRUGTURE.

Ralph W. Hardman and CharlesH'. Boxme-yer, "I

' St. J oseph', M'o; c

Application June 3, 1946, k-

lClaim. (Cl.9"'6)" I Y 1 This invention relates to boats andparticularly the structure thereof as regards the frame and itscomponent parts and the manner of joining the same.

The primary aim of this invention is to pro-v vide a boat structurewherein the ribs and battens of the frame are joined by providingnotches in the ribs having lengths greater than the widths of theentering battens to facilitate production of the boat, avoid splittingof the ribs and battens during assembly or after the boat has been putinto use and to allow drainage of the boat floor.

Further aims of this invention are to provide a boat' structure whereinthe battens of the frame Work of the boat are joined with the ribsthereof through the medium of specially contoured notches, a part of thelength thereof being flat and substantially equal to the width of thebattens received by the respective notches while the remaining portionsof the lengths of the notches are arched to eliminate sharp corners andto provide strength at zones of interconnection between the ribs andbattens of the frame of the boat and the skin thereof.

Other objects of the invention will appear during the course of thefollowing specification referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a boat made in accordance with the presentinvention; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on line II-II of Fig. 1.Y

One of the most troublesome problems presented to the boat manufactureris that of accurately interfitting the parts of the frame thereofwithout splitting the units and without consuming an undesirable amountof time. To facilitate the assembly of boats and to insure the desiredamount of strength, the battens and ribs of the boat frame are joinedthrough the medium of specially formed notches about to be described. j

The boat body broadly designated by the numeral IIJ comprises a frameincluding a series of transverse ribs I2 having uprights I4 at the sidesof the boat and a base member I6 overlying the skin I8 at the bottom ofthe boat.

Skin 20 along each side of the boat body I0 cooperates with skin I8 increating a completely water-tight shell held in place and to form by theseveral ribs I2. Interconnecting battens 22 extend longitudinally ofboat body ID and intersect ribs I2. Battens 22 are received in notches24 provided in elements I4 and I6 of ribs I2 and it is the form of thesenotches that permitsthe accomplishment of the desired objects of theinvention.

The widths of battens 22 vary and, therefore, the form of notches 24must be altered to suit the width of the batten which it. receives. Eachnotch 24 has a at length 26 along the bottom thereof substantiallycoextensive with the width of the batten 22 to be received by the notch.The end portions of notches 24 are arcuate as at 28 and merge with theflat length 26. When the battens 22 are introduced into their respectivenotches, they are glued or otherwise fastened in place so that theirouter faces are in the same plane as the outer edges of the framemembers in which they are formed.

When the battens are assembled with the frames as above set forth and asshown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, a space on each side of each batten 22along the bottom of the boat is presented to permit drainage and toprevent pocketing of water between the several cross bottom members 26of frame I2. The battens 22 may be combined with their respectivenotches 24 with greater speed when the said notches are formed as justset forth and danger of splitting during assembly or after the boat hasbeen put into use, is eliminated.

The grain of the material from which battens 22 are formed is usuallysuch as to intersect the grain of the material from which the parts I4or I6 of frame I2 are made and, therefore, a differential in expansionis usually encountered where the parts become wet. This has alwaysresulted in a splitting or a swelling that is detrimental to thestrength and shape of the boat and it has actually been found inpractice that the notching as above described will eliminate theseobjections.

Forming the notches as shown, will also reduce the time and cost ofmaking the boat since precision work incident to creating sharp cornersis eliminated.

It is realized that boats having physical characteristics different fromthose shown and described may be made without departing from the spiritof the invention orv scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, whatwe claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

A boat frame comprising a series of substantially U-shaped, parallelribs, each having an elongated base member provided with a number ofspaced, elongated notches in the outermost edge thereof, and an uprightmember at eachend respectively of said base member, said upright memberseach being provided with a num- -width of the battens being less thanthe lengths of the notches, said notches each being defined 10 by a flatbottom wall and a pair of opposed, con;`v Y cave end walls, one face ofeach batteri engaging REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the le of this patent: Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date l 1,687,387 Rieger Oct. 9, 1928 if vFOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 13,608 Great Britain 1910 said atwall of corresponding notches, the longitudinal edges Vof the battensbeing spaced from proximal end walls of notches.V

RALPH W: HARDMAN. CHARLES H.

correspondirigg t"

